Sun Cat Questions.

[Seaweed]

I apologize for not posting info about the "wetting" etc of my new Sun Cat, but you can see a short run down of my adventures on the Trailer Sailor Catboat forum.  

I need answers to two questions, however.

1.  I have a Nissan 6HP 4 Stroke Long Shaft motor for the boat.  I notice in the owners manual that they do not mention running the engine out of gas when you are done for the day.  Is this not done with a 4 Stroke?  I use to do it with a Johnson 2 stroke I had about 30 years ago or so.

2.  When I recover the boat at the end of a sail I use the trailer winch to crank the boat onto the trailer.  I crank until the stem is in the "V" block of the trailer.  However after I pull clear of the ramp I always find the stem is about 1" away from the block.  I then crank it foward (mostly down).  I am afraid however that because of the mechanical advantage of the winch I could damage the eyehook.  Any suggestions?

The boat is fantastic.  I couldn't be happier with her.    

Tom G.

[curtis]

1.  I have a Nissan 6HP 4 Stroke Long Shaft motor for the boat.  I notice in the owners manual that they do not mention running the engine out of gas when you are done for the day.  Is this not done with a 4 Stroke?  I use to do it with a Johnson 2 stroke I had about 30 years ago or so.

There is no need to do that.  Do you leave your car idling in the driveway until it runs out of gas after you've taken it out for a drive?

2.  When I recover the boat at the end of a sail I use the trailer winch to crank the boat onto the trailer.  I crank until the stem is in the "V" block of the trailer.  However after I pull clear of the ramp I always find the stem is about 1" away from the block.  I then crank it foward (mostly down).  I am afraid however that because of the mechanical advantage of the winch I could damage the eyehook.  Any suggestions?

I'd leave a little slack and put a strap over the cockpit.  You need the towing strap for trailering any distance.  My towing hook has pulled forward by nearly 1/4 inch and I hardly trailer at all.  One of the things on my to-do list (for a few years now) is to remove the towing hook and put it back with a serious SS backing plate so it can't possible pull out.  I expect to find two nuts and washers buried into the laminate or a block of wood with laminate covering it.  Anyone done this already?

Curtis

[Whitecaps]

Tom & Curtis,

My experience is with a 1976 CP-16.  I noticed the towing eye on my CP-16 was rather loose last year.  I found a piece of plywood that looks like chips glued together (particle board perhaps) with a small stainless plate backing the eye.  The plywood had become wet and just about disintegrated.  I assumed this plywood had been installed by a previous owner.  I don't think it would have lasted 28 years.  

It just so happened I was doing some epoxy work on the keel at the time, so I cut a block of oak to back the eye and roughly fit in the V of the bow.  The oak was painted with some leftover Cetol for waterproofing.  I then filled the holes in the laminate with epoxy and redrilled once it cured.  Next I installed the eye with oak block and same small stainless plate backing the eye.  Then made several applications of thickened epoxy to fill in the gaps between the oak block and the laminate.  

So far it has been as sturdy as I expected.  I've towed it perhaps six times since the repair.

My boat also seems to settle back about an inch once it's been pulled up the ramp.  I crank the winch until it just contacts the "V" block of the trailer, but I don't put pull it up too tight.  Like Curtis mentioned I use a towing strap across the cockpit to hold the boat in place.


Grant White
CP-16
Arunk

[Gil Weiss]

I don't tow much since my boat stays in the water all season. But, I noticed a long time ago that my boat also settles back about an inch or so after winching it up on the trailer. I looked at the trailer after launching this year and noticed there is some normal play in the "tilt" joint. This may explain why the boat shifts about a bit at the front. Using a strap around the hull at the rear of the trailer is a must. I also back up the web bow strap with a line.

[Whitecaps]

... I also back up the web bow strap with a line.

My trailer has a chain & hook to backup the web bow strap, but it is long enough to allow the boat to move back about 6 inches.  I've wondered if I should shorten the chain?

Grant

[Gil Weiss]

I would have a little slack in the chain, but not 6". Just enough to easily put it in place and act as a backup . . .like maybe an inch.

[Whitecaps]

Gil,
I was thinking a couple inches should do it.
Thanks,
Grant